HMC News: The Force is strong with this one

September 14, 2016

The Force is strong with this one

HMC's Chris Gardner proved he was a force to be reckoned with when a Star Wars project he was working on won a prestigious award from Disney.

Chris was one of the writers of the Build the Millennium Falcon magazine, published by De Agsotini, which guides the reader through the construction of a 1:1 scale replica of the original Empire Strikes Back movie miniature of Han Solo's hot rod starship.

Chris worked on The Secrets of Space Flight section of the magazine, explaining the various components of the Millennium Falcon that make her fly while looking behind the scenes and drawing parallels with space flight in the real world. For example a study of the Millennium Falcon's deflector shield system is contrasted with the heat shields used by NASA.

De Agostini has sold more than 4 million copies of the magazine.

Disney, which bought Star Wars owner Lucasfilm in 2012, presented De Agostini with the Product Innovation Award at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. "I don't mind admitting seeing the Falcon soar across movie screens in December for the first time in 33 years brought tears to my eyes," said Chris, who has also worked on the Star Wars Fact File for De Agostini and Titan Magazines' Star Wars Insider and Star Trek Magazine.

"I'm happy to have played a small part in the project. I work with some very talented people, and am glad that they have all got the recognition they deserve from Disney."